Our View: Too early to say if Washington St. needs ‘saving’

Given how quickly plans moved forward in 2012 and 2013 for the demolition of several century-old houses on the 500 block of Washington Street, we can understand why historical preservation-minded community members would get nervous about a proposal to demolish a row of century-old buildings on the 100 block of Washington Street and would want to react quickly.

But we also think the recently declared campaign to “Save Washington Street!” seems a little premature.

For the past few months, Iowa City, the University of Iowa, MidWestOne and Kresge Building LLC have been working together with a consultant to examine the possibility of restoring the historic, UI-owned Jefferson Building into the boutique hotel it was originally built to be. (The three entities split the $55,000 cost for the study by the Omaha-based consultant HDR.) In the course of that partnership, however, the discussion broadened to include the possible redeveloping the adjacent strip of properties on the southside of Washington Street between the Jefferson Building and Hands Jewelers.

The general idea would to be to demolish the century-plus-old brick-and-stone storefronts that currently house businesses such as The Den, Running Wild, Discerning Eye and The Brown Bottle. The buildings would then be replaced with a modern, glass, up-to-six-story building with underground parking and a mix of residential condominiums, offices and retail space.

Those directly involved with the discussions stress that such plans — especially the conceptual renderings of the possible new building — are only in the most preliminary of stages. The idea, for example, has yet to be presented formally to the Iowa City Council, and UI officials have yet to agree to place the Jefferson Building on the market.

We’re not opposed to the idea of developing this site — especially, say, if the proposed building were to provide space for a newly relocated University of Iowa Museum of Art. But it’s hard to imagine a better example of a worst-case scenario than the conceptual renderings provided by the consultants. (Depending on whom you ask, the proposed building either would be “completely out-of-character” with the downtown or far too similar to the glass-and-steel towers that have been added to the cityscape over the past decade.)

Our concerns about the proposed project, however, are alleviated greatly by the fact that the property in question is owned by an Iowa City native, Mike Frantz, whose Cedar Rapids-based Frantz Community Investors specializes in repurposing historic buildings throughout the Midwest. (A few years ago, for example, the company did an impressive job locally in terms of collecting and addressing neighborhood feedback in its plans for transforming the former St. Thomas More Catholic Church rectory and parish center into 16 studio and one-bedroom apartments that will be marketed to young professionals.)

So while community activists are wise to keep an eye on this proposed development — and while there are a lot of details that still need to be worked out — and while the city doesn’t have the best track record in terms of preserving local history — we think this particular project is one that will include much compromise with (rather than mere caterwauling from) its critics.

Blank walls as public canvas

The Iowa City Public Art Commission is offering $9,000 to give local artists the opportunity use three public walls as canvases for large-scale murals:

•
The east wall under the College Street Bridge.

•
The west wall of the pump building next to the Fairmeadows Park Splash Pad on Miami Drive.

•
And the east wall of the old pool building at Mercer Park on Bradford Drive.

We (along with some local graffitists) have long thought those spaces would be perfect for murals. If you have an idea for what should appear on those sites, go to www.icgov.org/publicart for more information. The application deadline is May 23, with finalists announced in June.

To contact us

•
Send letters (up to 250 words) to opinion@press-citizen.com.

•
All letters must include a name, address and daytime phone number. (Only your name and city will be printed.)

•
The editor reserves the right to edit letters for length, content, clarity and style.